Being a Teams-player will boost your employability!

By now you would have heard about Microsoft Teams at least once, whether it’s for a module’s collaboration, an online lecture or presenting your work in a 1:1 meeting. Teams is a tool that rarely goes unused when in university and especially, when in the workplace. The tool makes working and studying a collaborative, engaging and efficient process. So, let’s talk about why and how to use it!  

Some students at university prefer to make all-round use of Teams, however some end up avoiding it because of an unfamiliarity or added complexity. When I first used it for attending online classes, I was slightly overwhelmed yet curious. It rapidly became a popular platform for remote learning during Covid-19. As I tackled the era of social distancing during my undergraduate, the more I used Teams, the more I found myself relying on it.  

You can see which teams you are added to by going to your Teams account now. Ensure you are logged in from your City student account. These team-spaces help me feel immersed in the cohort as they act as digital communities to add to your learning and day to-day. You can also message your classmates and staff immediately. For me, Teams has been the fastest way for my lecturers to notice my questions and respond with their answers. Truth be told, I may have overused Teams for this, and an important sidenote here, follow your tutor’s advice on contacting them.  

But my point is, Teams can be a very useful resource in your student journey as it offers easy communication, ability to plan and host meetings, digital community-spaces and much more.

Benefits of using MS Teams as a student:

• Confused about where to discuss and collaborate on your group assignment?
  Create a Teams group chat:Most students start up a conversation with their classmates in the Teams Chat. Simply click on the ‘new chat’ button on the top-right of the ‘Chat’ panel or press ‘Ctrl + N’ when you’re in Teams Chat. You can then add group members by typing in their names and choosing their profile from the list of suggestions. After adding your members, just type in a message to start the group chat. You can also choose to rename the group chat once it has started, by clicking on the pencil button at the top.
   

• End up missing or forgetting about scheduled commitments?
  Stay organized with all your to-do:Being at university, managing multiple modules each semester, all while keeping up with your day-to-day can be hard. I can recommend you download the MS Teams and Outlook apps on your phone and turn their notifications on. Use Outlook or Teams calendar to block time off for your meetings, personal study and activities. Scheduled group meetings will automatically appear in your calendar. When I’m using Teams, I can easily navigate to the Calendar space to check my updated schedule even if I had used Outlook to create that item. The calendar’s automatic sync-up between both the apps, Outlook and Teams, helps me to stay organized, manage my time and increase productivity all-round and not just for schoolwork.
   

• Not sure about what recruiters are looking for and which skills to have?
  Teams is a critical employment skill:Microsoft Teams is more than just a tool in today’s landscape. Companies use Microsoft Suite widely and Teams, specifically to leverage efficiency and collaboration. With one click, you can access a space where your calendar, meetings, discussions and files can be opened, edited and updated in real-time with an all-across auto-sync. Employers are looking for confident graduates that know their way around tools used today, for group calls and interactive presentations.  

Let me walk you through how I leverage Teams in my professional role. 

My journey with Teams as a Student Digital Assistant at LEaD: 

Being a recent international postgraduate student, it’s my first time in a professional role in London. With a year-long IT work experience after my undergraduate studies, my current role as a Student Digital Assistant (SDA) at LEaD in City, University fits perfectly into my busy Master’s schedule as it’s part-time, at university and in my field of interest. 

One of my main tasks include creating posts on Canva, keeping in mind the project’s audience and requirements. Then posting the same on our Teams channel with an appropriate write-up, ensuring my ideas are conveyed correctly and creatively. My other tasks are then to enter data into spreadsheets about students communicated with or the post’s engagement numbers.  

A crucial part of my role is to communicate with my teammates and Manager regularly since we all collaborate on projects. Recently, I had the opportunity to present my projects and tasks, along with my other three teammates, to the rest of the staff at the LEaD office. When using MS Teams to deliver a group presentation, as is the industry best practice, we came across interesting features of the tool that enhanced our experience.  

Did you know? You could upload your PowerPoint slides (.ppt) to the Teams call through the share option in the meeting and read your attached speaker notes in the presenter-view during the live-call. When it was the four of us presenting the slide-deck together, each of us had a few slides per team-member. We took turns to present and each time, the SDA presenting used the ‘Take control’ button to gain access to move the slides ahead, so, our viewers could follow along with the presentation seamlessly while we delivered each of our work collaboratively.  

The group presentation features in MS Teams made transitions in the presentation delivery efficient, making it a good experience for not just us presenters but also our listeners in the call. I recommend all my peers to use MS Teams for its group chat, meeting and scheduling features to make the most of your study while at university. Using MS Teams for your tasks is an essential and lifelong learning skill you can take into your workplace upon a successful graduation.  

If you want support using Teams or learning how to use any of the features discussed, book a digital skills tutorial 1:1. 

All the best from all the SDA’s and the team at LEaD.  

P.S.  be a Teams-player!